Matt Black's Writing Attack: Making Bad Writing Good and Good Writing Great

Introduction

Five years ago, a young friend told me about Wattpad.

"It's a YouTube for writers, Mr. Black," she claimed. "You should try it."

Now, if you knew me in real life, you'd understand that "trying something" new is a pretty dangerous proposition for me. I mean, I'm one of those people who likes to squeeze as much as I can into each day. (Thank you, coffee.) So, it took a little while before I got around to "trying" Wattpad. I had to fit it in between guitar and drum lessons, making YouTube videos, grad school, family time, and that pesky full-time job. But eventually, I did.

Oops. Wattpad has since dominated my life. No more drum lessons. My guitars are covered with dust. I haven't made a video in years. I quit the grad school scene. Don't worry. I still spend time with my family and I haven't quit working.

I have, though, turned into a drawing and illustrating machine. I've got about twenty novels in the queue, countless illustrations I've done or have planned, short stories stacked on short stories and even a few poems just for fun.

And now this...a guide to being a better writer.

Don't worry. It's not really for you. You're welcome to read it, of course. Why publish it otherwise? But I'm not claiming to be a great writer. Rather, I think I am a much-improved writer.  Even though I've published papers and poems, even though I'd written hundreds of thousands of words before I decided to write fiction, there was still a ton I had to learn about creating stories and writing them.

This guide is meant to lock down the lessons I've learned and hopefully help me master what I've learned on my journey to becoming a novelist and storyteller. I hope it helps you as much as it helps me.